AMERICAN POMOLOGISTS 



THE Boston meeting of the Ameri- 

 can Pomological Society, held Sep- 

 tember IO-I2, was a success in 

 every ^vay except that of attendance. The 

 excellent program of this ancient, honor- 

 able and eminently progressive association 

 deserved larger audiences, had there been 

 only the city of Boston to draw from. As 

 it was, many States and Provinces were re- 

 presented. Among the Canadians were C. 

 R. H. and Arthur Starr, and Prof. Sears, 

 of Nova Scotia; Mr. Craig and Mr. Jack, 

 of Quebec. 



A most interesting feature was the series 

 of five-minute speeches at the evening 

 meetings, particularly that of Friday, when 

 " Ideals " were discussed. Many speakers 

 took part, and the ideal raspberry was dealt 

 with by Mr. M. A. Macoun, of Ottawa, the 

 dessert apple by Prof. VanDeman; the 

 amateur pomologist by Mr. W. A. Taylor. 

 The ideal fruit growers' home, his children, 

 their education and their environment, were 

 other subjects ably handled by speakers who 

 had given time and thought to their work 

 of " boiling down " ideals. 



The four-year-old committee on naming 

 fruits presented a carefully worded report, 

 laying down important principles to govern 

 official nomenclature. Names are to be as 

 brief as possible, possessives are to be dis- 

 carded, along with such general terms as 

 " pippin," " pearmain " and " rareripe." 

 Rights of originators of new fruits, and of 

 the districts or sections of origin, are to be 

 respected so far as the general interest will 

 admit; but having once formally published 

 the name of a variety, its originator has no 

 further authority over it, and no more right 

 to change the name than any other person. 

 A variety should not be named while it is 



still in the experimental stage, but only after 

 it has been successfully propagated. 



Numbers should be used only during the 

 preliminary pr test stage, to be exchanged 

 for a distinctive name when the variety is 

 established on the market. 



Some discussion arose over the question 

 whether an owner should have the absolute 

 right to give a new variety its name, or 

 whether, if quite unsuitable, such name 

 should be refused recognition. 



At Professor Waugh's suggestion the 

 committee was continued and empowered to 

 make minor changes in its report as pre- 

 sented. 



The report of the " ad interim " commit- 

 tee on the Wilder awards was equally inter- 

 esting, and affirmed the principle that no 

 award should be given to a new fruit, no 

 matter how excellent, which had not been 

 propagated and successfully grown else- 

 where than in its native place. In this 

 connection it may be mentioned that a 

 medal was awarded an exhibit of apples 

 brought by Prof. Craig's brother from the 

 homestead at Abbotsford. 



Prof. Bailey, of Cornell, delivered a stir- 

 ring address on the importance of the com- 

 mon school, on which, he said, the future 

 of the country is based, and on the broad- 

 ening, elevating influence of " mature stud- 

 ies " on the mind and life of the child. 



Prof. Powell spoke on the relation of re- 

 frigeration to the fruit industry in securing 

 an even and widespread distribution and 

 avoiding the extremes of over-supply and 

 scarcity. 



Prof. Waugh dealt with the judging f 

 fruits by scales of points, and Mr. W. F. 

 Taylor claimed the support of all delegates 

 in securing the best display of fruit ever 



